Parlour: I wouldn’t take £50m for Bellerin

Arsenal legend Ray Parlour urges the club to hold onto Hector Bellerin, and says he wouldn’t even take £50m for the full-back.

In recent days, rumours have started to build that Arsenal could look to offload Bellerin to fund a summer transfer spree. However, Parlour told talkSPORT he thinks losing the defender would be a step back.

“I’d be amazed if Arsenal sold Bellerin,” he said. “He’s still a young player, he’s still learning and he wants to learn. I still think defensively he has to get better, but he can get better.

“I wouldn’t take £50m for him, because you’ve still got to replace him in the team. Full-backs these days are so hard to find, because they’ve got to be able to play like wingers.”

It’s definitely true that good full-backs are hard to find in today’s market. There’s a reason Manchester City spent £97.65m on just two of them last summer. If Arsenal sold Bellerin for £50m they’d spend probably spend all of it just on replacing him.

Perhaps the club believe they could fill the gap internally. Ainsley Maitland-Niles is having a good season, and he played well at right-back over the weekend.

Behind him, 19-year-old Jordi Osei-Tutu signed a contract extension in December. Calum Chambers filled the position against AC Milan as well, so he’s another option.

Realistically though, the club can’t do much better for a blend of youth, talent and experience than Bellerin. Using anyone else in the position would be a gamble, just as buying someone new would be.

Like Parlour, I think selling the 22-year-old to fill other positions would be one step forward, two steps back.

Arsenal fan since a young age, now a season ticket holder who enjoys writing, tweeting and making videos about the Gunners. Also likes: guitar, gaming and lists of three.
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